merckelbagh



2 -Sheets--Sheet 1-.

(No Model.)

0. MEROKELBAGH. GAR STARTER AND BRAKE.

Patented Nov. 29, 1887.

INVENTOR ATTORNEYS.

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2 Sheets-Sheet '2.

(No Model.)

C. MERCKELBAGH. L OAR STARTER AND BRAKE.

No. 373,994. r Patented Nov. 29, 1887.

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BY .Mwm

ATTORNEYS.

UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

CAR'STARTE RAND BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 373,994, dated November 29, 1887. Application filed August 30, 18 87. Serial No. 249,268. (X model.) Patented in Belgium May 11, 18:7, No. 74,410.

To aZZ whom) it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES Mnnoxnn- BAGH, a subject of the King of Belgium, and residing at the city of Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium, have invented a new and Improved Apparatus for Startingand Stopping Tramway and other Vehicles, (for which a patent has been obtained inBelgium, dated May 11, 1887, and numbered 74,410,) ofwhich the following is a full," clear, and exact description.

My invention relates, particularly, to horserailway-cars, but may readily be applied to steam-railway cars and to other vehicles.

Its objects are to provide said cars with an apparatus set in operation by the ordinary brake shaft and handle, whereby the progress of said car may be stopped, and whereby as its speed is retarded its momentum is taken up by springs, which, when released, operate upon the axles to give the car a forward impetus, and thus relieve the shoulders of the horses from the sudden and excessive strain of starting said car. These objects are accomplished by the construction, arrangement, and operation of parts hereinafter particular] y described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of a car having my improved brake and starter applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a plan View of the same. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail sectional view, of the brake or clutch device and part of one of the axles of the car.

In carrying my invention into effect I provide a rectangular iron or steel frame, A, of sufficient length and width to span the axles b b of the car, and construct said frame with bearings in which said axles may freely rotate, and with bearings for supplemental shafts, which rotate parallel with said axles. Each of said axles at each side of the frame A is provided with fixed collars 19 which prevent sidewise movementof the frame.

.In an apparatus of the character herein described intended for application to a car having a platform at each end, as in the example Fig. 3 is an end elevation, and

illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, one set of the working parts is located at each end of the car, and as one set of said parts is exactly like the other and operates in thesame manner, it will suffice to describe the construction, arrangement, and operation of the parts at one end of the car only-for instance at the left of Figs. 1 and 2 of'the drawings.

The brake or clutch device is preferably constructed in three parts, 0, c", and 0 the part 0' being fixed to the axle and the parts 0' and 0 being loosely mounted thereon, having inclined contact-faces and adapted to engage one with another. The part c is provided with a sleeve, 0, formed integral therewith, for apurpose hereinafter explained, and the axle is provided with a feather, which compels the parts of the clutch mechanism, when engaged with each other, to rotate with said axle. A gear-wheel, d, loosely encircles said axle, and is adapted to be engagedby the combined parts of the clutch device and to be rotated thereby with said axle. About centrally of the axle is fixed a collar, b which limitsin one direction the movement of the sleeve 0 of the part c of the clutch device. Upon the opposite end of said axle is mounted a gear-wheel, e, carrying a series of pawls, 0 which engage a ratchetwheel, 6, fixed to said axle. A supplemental shaft, f, rotating in bearings transversely of the frame A, carries at one end a pinion, f, which meshes with the gear-wheel d on the axle, and carries at its other end a pinion, f which meshes with an intermediate pinion, f mounted on a short shaft adapted to rotate in bearings in the frame a above the supplemental shaft, which pinion f meshes with the gear-wheel e. The wheel 0 gears with a rack, h, adapted to be moved longitudinally of the frame A in-vertically-depending guides h, supported by the frame A and provided with rollers It", said rack being capable of being vertically adjusted by means of screws h to throw it in or out of gear with the wheel 6, as desired. Said rack is provided at its forward extremity with an arm, h which bears against a powerful helical spring, 1', coiled upon a tube or rod, t", which serves to guide saidspring and is supported at its ends in the frame A above said rack.

The apparatus is operated by a crank-ban dle (not shown) fixed upon a vertical shaft, 7:, mounted to turnin the car-platform, said shaft and handle being such as are usually employed in operating the ordinary chain-brake upon horse-cars. To the lower end of said shaft 7; is attached a short length of chain, It, which passes to a connection with arod, k", attached to the long arm of a horizontal elbow-lever, I, pivoted at its angle to the frame A, the short arm of said lever being pivotally connected to the sleeve 0 of the part c of the clutch or brake device. A flat spring, Z, fixed at one end to the face of the frame A, bears with its free end against the long arm of the lever 7, and normally presses the same inward toward said frame.

Now, assuming that the car is traveling in the direction indicated by the arrow in in Fig. lof the drawings, and it is desired to stop the car, the driver turns the crank-handle and its shaft on the front end platform of the ear, and said shaft, acting through its connection with the elbow-lever, draws the long arm of said lever outward, causing the short arm of said lever to slide the sleeve to which it is eonnected along the axle and set the parts of the clutch or brake device in engagement with each other. Said clutch device engages with the gear-wheel adjacent thereto, and causes the same to rotate with it and said axle. The

gear-wheel at the other end of said axle iscaused by the intervening pinions to rotate upon said axle in a direction opposite to that of the wheel engaged by the clutch, and said last-mentioned wheel, engaging with the rack, causes the latter to move toward the front end of the car and compress the helical spring, the pawls on said wheel slipping over and engaging the teeth of the ratchet-wheel and preventing reversal of the rotation of the axle until the resistance of said spring overcomes the momentum of the car, when the latter comes to a standstill. In order to start the vehicle again under these conditions, it is only necessary for the driver to turn the crank-handle and its shaft in the opposite direction, whereupon the spring which bears against the elbowlever acts upon said lever to press its long arm inward, thus disengaging the clutch from the wheel operated upon by it. The spring carried by the frame of the apparatus is then free to expand, and forces the rack to return to its original and normal position. Atthe same time said rack imparts a rotary motion to the wheel which meshes with it in the reverse direction to that in which it previously moved. The pawls on. said wheel operate against the teeth of the ratchet-wheel on the axle, and thus impart motion to the latter and the wheels of the car in the direction required to start the car.

The herein-deseribed apparatus may be read ily applied to existing vehicles without necessitating alteration in their construction, and it dispenses with the use of the ordinary brakeshocs, and consequently obviates the injury to the tires of the car'wheels resulting from the application thereto of said brake-shoes.

\V hen applied to a steam-railway car, the apparatus is modified as follows: The appar ratus takes the place of the Westinghouse brake, and is entirely or partially controlled bythe engine-driver, being operated either by compressed air or by water, and said apparatus has the advantage over the \Vestinghouse brake of being capable of preventing the wheels of the locomotive from slipping when starting thetrain.

In the ease of other vehicles the working parts of the apparatus are made single or in duplicate, according to circumstances.

Having thus described my invention,what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A combined car brake and starter,-consisting of a frame resting on the car-axle, a supplemental shaft rotating transversely of said frame, carrying a pinion at each end, a spring supported by said frame, an adjustable rack supported by said frame, having an arm adapted to compress said spring, agear-wheel loosely mounted on said axle, meshing with said rack, pawls on said wheel engaging a ratchet-wheel fixed to said axle, a third piuion rotating in said frame, meshing with said gear-wheel and a pinion on said shaft, a friction-clutch in three parts, one of said parts being fixed to and the others mounted to slide on said axle, a second gearwheel loosely mounted on said axle, engaged by said clutch and meshing with a pinion on said shaft, an elbow-lever pivoted on said frame and connected to the adjustable parts of said clutch, a spring bearing against said lever, and connections, substantially as specified, between said lever and a crank-handle and shaft on the platform of the car, all constructed, arranged, and adapted to operate as herein shown and described.

2. In a car brake and starter, the combination, with a friction-clutch in three parts, one part fixed and the others adjustable on the car-axle, a gear-wheel loosely mounted on said axle and adapted to be engaged by said clutch, gear imparting motion in an opposite direction from said gear-wheel to a second gearwheel loosely mounted on the opposite end of said axle, pawls carried by said second gearwheel, ranging over a ratchet-wheel fixed to said axle, a rack engaged by said gear-wheel, and a spring adapted to be compressed by an arm on said rack, of an elbow-lever connected to the adjustable parts of said clutch and connections, substantially as specified, between said lever and a crank handle and shaft on the platform ofthe car, substantially as shown and described, for the purposes herein set forth.

3. In a car brake and starter, the combination,witl1 a gear-wheel loosely mounted on the car-axle, a friction-clutch in three parts engaging with said wheel, a transverse shaft carrying atone end a pinion which meshes with said wheel, and at its other end a pinion meshing .substantiallyas described and shown, for :o with a pinion rotating in an opposite direothrowing said clutch and gear-wheel in and out tion above said shaft, a second gear wheel of engagement with each other and withsaid loosely mounted on said axle, carrying a seshaft, substantially as shown and described.

ries of pawls engaging a ratchet-wheel fixed on the axle, said gear-wheel meshing with the CHARLES MEROKELBAGH: pinion above said shaft, and with a longitudi- Witnesses:

nally-adjustable rack, a spring adapted to be EMILE VNUYBS,

compressed by an arm on said rack ,and means, LOUIS FOURDING. 

